Arcturus in the constellation Boötes is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, and the fourth brightest star in the night sky.

The name Arcturus comes from the ancient Greek word “arktos” for bear and means “Bear Watcher”. That’s because he follows Ursa Major the Great Bear, the brightest part of which is the Big Dipper, across the spring sky.

Arcturus is moving at a tremendous rate of speed (122 km/s) relative to our solar system. Moreover, Arcturus is not moving with the general stream of stars in the flat disk of our Milky Way galaxy. Instead, it is cutting perpendicularly through the galactic disk. Arcturus is thought to be an old star. It appears to be moving with a group of at least 52 other such stars, known as the Arcturus stream. Arcturus is likely to be considerably older than our sun. When the sun evolves to become a red giant, the sun might be a star much like Arcturus is now.

As it cuts through the galactic disk, Arcturus will eventually reach a closest point to our sun. The closest approach of Arcturus will happen in about 4,000 years, when the star will be a few hundredths of a light-year closer to Earth than it is today. But remember that Arcturus is not moving with the general stream of stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy. Thus, we will lose sight of this star relatively quickly. Millions of years from now, this star will be lost from the view of any future inhabitants of Earth, or at least those who are earthbound and looking with the eye alone. - earthsky.org

As we attune in present time to the greater cosmic energies, these Summer nights around the Solstice are conducive for stargazing.

In celebration of the Summer Solstice from the perspective of the northern hemisphere, through this week we are attuning to stars and constellations visible in the night sky.

Your contributions to this week's new meditation focus, beginning June 22 on the cosmic alignment close to the June Solstice, are most welcome ~ both on the inner planes where we may share subjectively in receptivity, as well as here on WeCycle Wisdom, where your impressions and comments are also valued.

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